Hand-Washing Masks Increases Risks: Study

Tourists wearing masks take photos as the Opera House (back, C) is enveloped in haze caused by nearby bushfires, in Sydney on December 10, 2019. PETER PARKS/Getty Images

Hand-washing cloth masks only increases the risk of COVID-19 contamination but machine-washing them can make them as safe as surgical masks, according to new research.

Professor Raina MacIntyre, of UNSW Sydney’s Kirby Institute, says cloth and surgical masks should be considered contaminated after use.